Romania may close citizenship reacquisition for descendants of former citizens

Key points

• Bill B509/2026 was registered in the Romanian Senate on 15 September 2026. It was tabled by 13 deputies of the Social Democratic Party.
• The bill amends Articles 10 and 11 of Romanian Citizenship Law No. 21/1991. Article 11 is what currently gives descendants of former citizens, up to the third generation, the right to reacquire citizenship.
• Under the bill, reacquisition would remain only for people who themselves held Romanian citizenship and lost it.
• Descendants would be left with the general acquisition procedure, which requires many years of residence in Romania and an exam.
• As of 9 November 2026 the bill is awaiting consideration. There is no vote date, and the bill may be amended or rejected.

What the bill proposes

Law No. 21/1991 currently provides two different paths. The first is acquisition of citizenship by a foreigner who has lived in Romania for a long time, knows the language and passes an exam. The second is reacquisition. Article 11 grants it to people who lost Romanian citizenship involuntarily and to their descendants up to and including the third generation. In practice this mainly concerns residents of territories that were part of Romania before 1940: today's Moldova and parts of Ukraine. We covered this path in detail in our article on Romanian citizenship by descent.

The bill keeps reacquisition only for the first group: those who were citizens themselves and lost citizenship. Descendants of former citizens are removed from Article 11. They would be left only with the path of a foreigner, that is, acquisition of citizenship on general grounds, with residence in the country and an exam.

The bill's author presents it as a fight against abuse in granting citizenship and says the initiative is not aimed at residents of Moldova. Yet residents of Moldova make up the bulk of Article 11 applicants. That is why the bill drew a sharp reaction in Chisinau and among the Romanian diaspora.

What this means for you. If you have an ancestor who was a Romanian citizen before 1940, the right to reacquire citizenship by descent still applies in full. But if the bill passes, this path will close for descendants. Those who were planning to apply would be wise to do so now, while the current rules apply.

Before and after

The difference between the paths is huge. Reacquisition under Article 11 does not require living in Romania: the applicant proves kinship with a former citizen, submits documents, waits for a decision of the National Citizenship Authority (ANC) and takes the oath. The general acquisition procedure requires lawful residence in Romania for many years, knowledge of the Romanian language and of the country's history and constitution.

For most current applicants by descent, the general procedure amounts to a refusal in practice: a person living in Chisinau, Odesa or Moscow cannot spend years living in Romania for the sake of a passport. So the bill effectively closes the path to citizenship for descendants of former citizens.

Who is affected

The bill hits residents of Moldova hardest. Bessarabia was part of Romania from 1918 to 1940, and descendants of its residents now obtain a Romanian passport under Article 11. We explained how this works in practice in our article on Romanian citizenship for Moldovans. Many of them also hold Moldovan citizenship by origin, but it is the Romanian passport that gives them the rights of an EU citizen.

The bill also concerns residents of Northern Bukovina and the southern part of the Odesa region, and everyone whose ancestors lived on Romanian territory before 1940, wherever they live now. We have covered how a Russian citizen with Romanian roots can follow this path and which documents the application needs.

The bill does not affect people who were Romanian citizens themselves and lost citizenship, for example by renouncing it. Reacquisition remains available to them. Nor does it change anything for those who already hold citizenship: the bill does not provide for revoking it.

Three examples

• A family from Chisinau: the great-grandfather was a Romanian citizen before 1940 and his birth records have been found in the archives. Today the great-grandson can apply to reacquire citizenship under Article 11 without moving to Romania. If the bill passes as drafted, this path will close for him, leaving only the general procedure with residence in the country.
• An entrepreneur from Odesa whose grandmother was born in Izmail before 1940 has been gathering documents for a second year. If he files before the law takes effect, his application will be assessed under the law in force on the filing date, unless transitional provisions say otherwise. While the law is not adopted, this is the main reason not to delay.
• A Romanian woman who renounced citizenship and now wants it back. The bill does not affect her: reacquisition for former citizens is kept.

The second example shows why the filing date matters. According to published information, the bill does not set out detailed transitional provisions for applications already filed. The final text may change this, but no one should count on a soft transition in advance.

Why the bill appeared

Supporters of the bill point to abuse. Romania is investigating cases where citizenship under Article 11 was granted on the basis of forged ancestry documents, including to people who wanted an EU passport to get around sanctions. Such cases are in themselves an argument for stricter document checks, but the bill tackles the problem differently: it removes the right of an entire group of people rather than tightening control.

There is another side too. A Romanian passport gives freedom of movement and work across the whole EU, so the question of who should receive it has long been discussed in Brussels as well. The European Commission consistently presses member states for strict checks when granting citizenship. For Romania this is a reason to tidy up the procedure, and the debate will not end with one bill.

How reacquisition works now

Until the law is changed, reacquisition under Article 11 follows the existing rules. The applicant gathers birth and marriage certificates along the whole chain from the ancestor down to themselves, plus a document proving the ancestor's Romanian citizenship: a record of birth on Romanian territory before 1940, an archive certificate, a military record or another document. The documents are translated into Romanian, certified and then filed with ANC in person or through a consulate.

The official processing time is a few months, but in practice the path from filing to oath takes two to four years in 2026 because of the queue. There is no official way to speed up processing. Time can be saved in only one way: by filing a complete and correctly prepared package the first time, so that ANC does not return it with a request. If the bill passes, every month of delay may prove decisive.

Where the bill stands

Citizenship laws in Romania are adopted by both chambers of parliament. The bill goes through committees, receives opinions and can be amended at any stage. Many initiatives by individual deputies never reach a vote. So for now this is a signal of possible change, not a new rule. We are following the bill and will update this news when it moves.

Those who have already filed need to do nothing for now: the application stays in the queue and is assessed under the current rules. What matters is to answer ANC requests quickly and keep contact details up to date. If the authority asks for an additional document and the reply is delayed by months, processing may drag on until the new law takes effect, and the outcome will then depend on the transitional provisions.

Those still gathering documents should set priorities carefully. First find the document proving the ancestor's Romanian citizenship, because without it there is no point in filing. Birth and marriage certificates along the chain are usually easier to obtain and can be ordered in parallel.

Part of a wider trend

Romania is not the only EU country reviewing citizenship by descent. In 2025-2026 Italy restricted citizenship by descent and is debating language requirements, and Poland is preparing a B2 exam for naturalisation. The logic is the same everywhere: states want passports to go to people with a real connection to the country.

Against this backdrop, the Hungarian and Bulgarian programmes by origin remain unchanged for now. We compared the three countries in our article on repatriation to Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, and separately covered Bulgaria or Romania and which passport is stronger.

What to do now

We help gather documents and file applications for Romanian citizenship by origin. To avoid a refusal, read about common mistakes in EU citizenship by descent and reasons for refusals. We covered timelines and costs in our articles on timelines and on costs, and what the passport gives in our article on the benefits of a Romanian passport. All programmes are in the citizenship section, and you can discuss your situation at an online consultation.